“The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

I.Assignment

Report an accident which you have seen. The object of this exercise and those which are to follow is threefold:

1. Vocational—to begin to teach the art of reporting, and hence perhaps lay a foundation for students’ earning a living.
2. Ethical—to show all the pupils how a report should be made and thus give them a standard by which to measure newspapers.
3. Artistic—to teach all how to write modern English clearly, simply, and correctly.

II.Model

This is a report of an accident on a city street, witnessed by a reporter, and telephoned to a colleague at the newspaper office.

With a crash that could be heard for blocks, a high-powered touring car, owned and driven by Mrs. William J. Sheldon, wife of the millionaire gum manufacturer, who lives at East Boulevard and Clifton Drive, collided late last night with a heavy milk wagon at Payne Avenue and East 30th St. Both Mrs. Sheldon and John Goldrick, 656 East 105th St., driver of the milk wagon, escaped injury, except for a few minor cuts and bruises.

Mrs. Sheldon was driving east on Payne Avenue on the way to the Pennsylvania Station at Euclid Avenue to meet her husband, who was coming from New York. The street at Payne Avenue and East 30th St. had just been flushed; and, when Mrs. Sheldon endeavored to turn out toward the car tracks to avoid hitting Goldrick’s wagon, which was just turning into Payne Avenue, the car skidded and side-swiped the wagon.

One wheel of the machine and the mud guard were torn loose, while glass from the shattered wind-shield rained over Mrs. Sheldon as she strove desperately to twist the wheel. Goldrick was hurled from his seat, landing in the back of the wagon, which was piled high with cases of milk bottles. The horses were thrown from their feet by the shock.

Mrs. Sheldon and Goldrick were extricated from the wreckage and conveyed to the office of Dr. W.A. Masters, Payne Avenue and East 32d St., where their injuries were dressed. Later they were taken to their homes.

III.Suggested Time Schedule

IV.Notes, Queries, and Exercises

1. How many paragraphs are there in the report in SectionII?
2. What is the subject of each?
3. The object?
4. Point out the “Four W’s.”
5. State why each capital and each mark of punctuation in the model is used.
6. Tell whether each sentence is simple, complex, or compound.
7. Find in the model an adverbial phrase, an adverb, a noun used adverbially, a noun in apposition, a clause modifying a verb, a participle modifying the subject of a verb, a non-restrictive clause, and a clause used as an adjective.
8. Point out four words or phrases that give color to the story.
9. Write an appropriate heading for the model.

V.Oral Composition

Prepare a report of some accident which you have yourself seen or which has been described to you by an eye-witness. Be sure to get into the report in the proper order the “Four W’s,” the cause, and the result. Note that a good story usually consists of three parts:

1. The Previous Situation.
2. What Happened=The Climax.
3. The Result=The DÉnouement.

These are all in the model, but 2 is put first because it is most important. Observe the order of the model. Each member of the class will have a chance to make his report orally, and it will be subjected to the analysis of the class and teacher, who will blame or praise it according to its deserts. The reporter must defend himself, if attacked. Each pupil will therefore in turn play the rÔle of a reporter, telephoning a story to headquarters while the class and teacher enact the part of the city editor.

VI.Written Composition

After the process outlined in SectionIV of this chapter has shown the reporter how to go about the job, the report is to be written, proof-read by the teacher, corrected by the reporter, and rewritten until it is letter-perfect.

VII.Suggested Reading

Kipling’s 007 in The Day’s Work.

VIII.Memorize

SUNSHINE

Think every morning when the sun peeps through
The dim leaf-latticed windows of the grove
How jubilant the happy birds renew
Their long melodious madrigals of love;
And, when you think of this, remember too
’Tis always morning somewhere, and above
The awakening continents from shore to shore
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.

Longfellow, The Birds of Killingworth.
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